Cancer survivors highlight treatment progress at Komen race in Estero

It was 1987 and Barbara Puffer knew there was something wrong in her breast, but she couldn’t find a doctor who would take her case.

After months of searching, Puffer ultimately got the treatment she needed. It included nine months of chemotherapy, followed by a mastectomy.

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At the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure at the Coconut Point mall in Estero on Saturday, Puffer, now 66, noted many of the 1,600 attendees had experiences vastly different from hers.

“People always ask me, ‘Where’s the cure?’ ” she said. “But I meet people now who had similar cancers to what I had, who can do things I couldn’t.”

Puffer noted that women now have the option to freeze their eggs before they get a hysterectomy — an option she would have appreciated when she was diagnosed at 35. She was single and childless at the time, she said, and the chemotherapy left her sterile. 

Also, patients today typically don’t struggle to find a doctor like she did, Puffer said, and treatments are more targeted and less painful.

“Cancer used to be a death sentence,” she said. “Now it’s more like a chronic disease.”

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And it’s a disease that — thanks to developments in genetic testing — now can be prevented. Testing can show whether a person has a gene mutation that’s predictive of breast and ovarian cancer.

When Puffer turned 60 in 2012, a doctor recommended she undergo the testing after several of her mother’s cousins had been diagnosed with cancer.

Doctors found she carried the gene, so she underwent a double mastectomy, removing the implant she had from her first operation, as well as a hysterectomy.

“It was a good thing I did,” she said; a small cancerous tumor had formed in her breast.

At Saturday’s race, many others also said they had genetic testing to thank for increasing their chances of survival.

Natalie Dahlke, 38, walked the 3-mile race with her daughter Morgan, 10, to honor the memory of Dahlke's sister who died from the disease. Two years ago, when Dahlke found out she also carried the gene, she decided to have her breasts and ovaries removed.

Knowing her daughter will have the same preventive options gives her peace of mind, she said. Dahlke showed off a tattoo of a breast cancer ribbon above her hip that reads: “previvor.”

“Cancer research has given me a second chance, and it will do the same for her, too,” she said.

Other women at the event said they were grateful for the resources that organizations such as Susan G. Komen Southwest Florida provide.

Beverly Hill, 55, said that when she was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago, the organization helped her find a doctor and provided her with a wig.

Now that her hair has grown back, she died it bright pink for the race.

“My diagnosis broke my heart,” she said. “So now I always try to remind people to get regular checkups so they can detect the disease early.”

The Southwest Florida race, in its 11th year, has raised $4.3 million to date. A quarter of the proceeds go toward national cancer research, and the rest is given to local nonprofit organizations, including Lee Health, NCH and Partners for Breast Cancer Care, to provide services and treatments for uninsured and under-insured patients.

Puffer’s group, called Puffer’s Pals, has participated in 35 races across the country since 1991 and raised $76,000.

Even after all these years, Puffer said, she still is moved to see how many people come out to support the cause.

“I get choked up every time,” she said.

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